


Follow Me Off Into The Sunset To A Land Of Your Wildest Dreams

by NervousAliceCurious



Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Original Work
Genre: Another World Of Legend, Birthday Party, Gen, Ghostly Legends, Hiding, My Trusted Sharpie., Princess Out Of Water, S'mores Interrupted, Secrets Child, Suddenly Inducted, Threat To The Kingdom, Wingprincess, escape plan, planning, rainstorm, the adventure begins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-09-06 09:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20288860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousAliceCurious/pseuds/NervousAliceCurious
Summary: She doesn't like to be called a Princess. She's just a girl who wants to do right by everyone. But the Right Thing in this case might alienate me from everyone and everything I love.Let's do it.





	1. Perfect Timing

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go on another adventure. (:

I know it’s nice to wish someone happy birthday and all that, but the truth is:

I really don’t like parties.

I never know what to do or say, and I don’t enjoy dressing up all that much.

I don’t even know anyone here.

Well, that’s not quite true-I do know one person;

The princess herself.

We talked once or twice at previous celebrations…I kind-of forgot what about, though.

It was too long ago, and I couldn’t wait to get out of there and go home.

She seemed like a good person.

Not awkward at all around the shy girl…

-Anyway, I was just wandering, hoping that no one would be expecting me to dance or anything.

Being the center of attention wasn’t for me.

Ever.

And I thought that I would go get started on a s’more early since...I wanted to do it and be done.

It was fortunate that no one could read my mind here (that I knew of).

I didn’t think it would go over well if they knew how much I hated making a spectacle of myself.

“-wish I had that kind of luck”.

It wasn’t as fortunate that the tent where one did such things was already occupied by four other women deep in conversation.

"Oh shoot! Sorry”.

I hurried to back-pedal!

“Didn't mean to intrude”.

That s’more could wait ‘till later!

"No, it's cool”.

Princess Liberty shrugged.

"C'mon. Have a seat”.

-She was the one I’d just told you about.

The one whom I’d talked to before in the past.

I did as she asked, wondering what in the heck I had just gotten myself into.

“This is Mystic, Andrea R., and Gabbie.

They’re my only allies right now-

Well, before you got here, at any rate”.

“The two of us are seers”, Andrea clarified, “While Gabbie is a Princess like Liberty here”.

“I knew that”.

“Really?”

“Yeah”.

“Oh”.

“She’s the disappearing shadow you keep wondering about”, Mystic whispered in her ear.

“-Oh yeah!

I knew you looked familiar for some reason”.

“So, here’s the situation:

There’s this advisor here from the country of Eluidal who is after me”.

“Huh?”

“She wants to marry her and take the Kingdom’s wealth for her own!”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, but if she succeeds in hypnotizing the Birthday Girl’s parents it’s all over for Tiria-

She could convince them to make a bet with her involving all of their money and then win!”

“Okay…”

“To counter this, we’ve decided to help Liberty defect”.

“Defect?”

“Leave the country for twelve months and then the throne will be passed to some other heir, etc., etc. sure you've heard all about it before".

Who didn't?

"It’ll stop her right in her villainous tracks”, Gabbie declared.

“Sounds like that’s the only way-“

“Exactly!”

"But it's risky”, I said to them, “Everyone knows what happens if you're caught before those twelve months are up”.

"That's why we have to go further than just to another kingdom”, Liberty asserted.

"We have to go to the Hidden Nation and find the Celestial Fields”.

A gasp from all of us!

"But no one's ever made it to the Hidden Nation, let _alone_ to the Celestial Fields!"

"Then maybe we can be the first!” She exclaimed.

“The Celestial Fields are untraceable, and yet they watch over every kingdom in every realm. The Divinity Queen may be able to cast protection over all of us and stop the advisor from taking over”.

"But you've got to have a pure heart for her to allow that”, Andrea moaned.

"Well, I'm sc*d”, Gabbie sighed.

"We might be…”, Liberty conceded.

Until we all heard a musical, high-pitched giggle.

Sticking her head outside to find the source, I could practically hear the smile in her voice:

"But I think I know someone who isn’t”.


	2. Levels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to talk to a Princess. Or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can do it!!

More companions for the road?

I peeked outside with her, and found not one, but two.

Princess Rosanna, and Princess Theia.

Both known worldwide for their kindness and open hearts.

“Alice…”

“Yeah?”

She had a certain look in her eye:

“You wouldn’t mind convincing them to leave with us, would you?”

“Um…no…”

“Great, thank you, you’re a lifesaver-“

Her smile was as wide as my sudden fear.

_Uh…did you forget how much you ‘enjoy’ talking to people you don’t really know that well?_

(Yes).

…

We’re doing this now.

Oh boy.

*

“Hello!”

“Hi!”

“Good evening”.

One word, and immediate blushing to the high hills.

Fun.

“I’m Alice”.

“Oh yeah! You’re the Princess who got kicked out of school for dating the Plant Boy”.

Rosanna grimaced.

“I’m so sorry about that by the way, I tried to get the Headmistress to reconsider-“

Theia looked confused.

“It’s fine…”

That was a good year ago.

Our kingdom didn’t _get_ many visitors anymore…

Still _got_ invited for show.

(Because nobody else wanted anybody _else_ to know that anything was wrong).

“I’m Rosanna, but you can just call me Ro!”

“And I am Theia”.

I shook one hand first, then the other.

“Nice to meet you”.

“Nice to meet you too!”

“Yes, today is the day for making new friends”.

I took a shaky breath.

In all honesty, I hadn’t expected her to bring that up.

She'd been at the periphery of that incident...

Although the story did end with us surviving that stupidity, I’d been rattled.

**Badly.**

“…Well…”

“Yeah?”

“Is there something you need to tell us?”

…Theia’s pretty perceptive. Cool.

“Liberty Anne is in trouble because there’s this lady from Eluidal who’s trying to marry her and take over the kingdom and if she manages to brainwash her parents, it’s game over, literally as she’ll probably try to get them to make a bet with her over the place, and she’s never lost, so herself and a couple others including me were thinking of, uh, defecting for twelve months and I’m sure you’ve heard of what that will mean”.

_…I’m a rambler, oh no-_

“Yes”.

Ro was grave.

“I as well”.

Theia sighed.

“It’s such a shame…”

“I know, but we’re aiming for the Hidden Nation and then the Celestial Fields where someone will be able to keep us out of guards’ reach until then”.

“But you need a Pure Heart to enter”, Ro interjected.

“Yeah…which is where you two would come in…if you don’t mind?”

They exchanged glances.

“Of course!”

“If it’s for the good of the land, then I will do it”.

I exhaled internally.

“Thank you”.

“It’s no problem at all!”

“Yes. I will be glad to help out the sweetest Princess in all the world”.

-She realized what she’d said.

“-I-I mean-“

Her cheeks glowed as bright red as her hair.

“Aww…”

Rosanna giggled.

“She’ll love you for sure”, I reassured her.

“Th-thank you darlings…”

“Okay”.

I began to lead them toward the tent.

“So-“

…

*

"Liberty Anne!"

I hurried toward the twosome, nearly plowing over the aforementioned Advisor in the process.

Safiya Nygaard, right?

Fashionable all in black all of the time?

"Your parents are looking for you”.

Masking her disappointment, the woman exited Stage Left.

Light glinting off the snake ring she was twirling around her finger...

Letting the Princess free from her corner.

"Why do they need to see me?" she asked on cue.

"They don’t”.

Yup-

I lied.

"You're one of the best”.

*

"You brought them both!"

Mystic breathed.

"Where's Lollypop?"

Liberty blinked, stunned.

"How did you---?"

"I'm a Seer. Duh!"

-The pieces clicked.

"Lolly's in my room”.

"So _she's_ the one hiding...”

Rumors had swirled in Aizarenth that someone _was._

Speculation had grown so wild that everyone from the younger Princess to the King’s Cousin Twice Removed had been suspected to be the one.

Why?

Because no one _knew_ why.

Tiria had covered the whole thing up.

"Yeah”.

*

Sitting down at a convenient table, Andrea withdrew a map.

When she spread it out, I was in awe at how **_big-_**

"Okay, Tiria is the kingdom furthest south of the Northern border of Krouvaria, meaning it's the furthest away from Aeclepia, and even further away from the Celestial Fields.

Meaning, we'll have to travel through all of the provinces and the kingdoms within them.

Unfortunately, this also means that there's no way around this: we'll have to travel through the entirety of the Ember Vale”.

“F* that”, Gabbie swore, “I'm not doing that s*”.

That was where the dead people lived.

"We need all the help we can get”, Mystic begged her.

"It's gonna be one h* of a journey”.

"But don't people who go through the Ember Vale not come back?"

Shaking in my seat, but I couldn’t help it:

The tales were insidious.

_A demon who befriended a little girl and they vanished._

_A girl with eyes sewn into their hands, one on each side, predicted a person’s violent death-and they died soon after._

_A shade the size of the moon, large mouth full of teeth, the unfortunate fate of anyone who was lost alive, or so my neighbor would have us believe of her poor niece._

…And many, many more.

"From what I hear, that is mere superstition”, Theia pointed out.

"Superstition or otherwise, we'll have to go through there either way. It's between paths to the Celestial Fields within the Hidden Nation”.

"But that also means we have to go through the Arctic Realm”, Liberty wavered.

"It shouldn't be too bad”, Rosanna commented, “In Asteaca most everyone's trained in cold weather survival in case of a surprise blizzard”.

"Y'all are prepped for anything!” Andrea gasped.

Utterly impressed.

"It's just in our nature”.

She shrugged.

"Okay, so then here's our plan: we need to leave tomorrow night.

It'll give us more time to pass through Krouvaria.

We'll have to clear Tiria, or even Krouvaria entirely, before dawn.

Once we reach the Northern border, we'll have to sneak out.

There are a few acres of unclaimed land in between provinces and a few of the kingdoms where defectors can be caught by either kingdom.

This means we'll have to clear those quickly. 

Next we clear Inuvell, then Iaclerical, Asheadu, The Tempest Region, The Barren Vale is where we'll need to be extra careful, next is Cresteadour, then Naevaria, and Vezelux.

As far as I know, that should take us out of ruler's territory.

Once we do, we'll plan our next moves before we reach the Arctic Realm”.

"How the f* are we gonna do that!?” Liberty spluttered.

"There's a small safehouse for travelers in the patch of land between the end of Vezelux and the Arctic Realm. We can rest and plan there”.

"Whoa, okay, can we slow down please?

This is making my head dizzy”.

My brain not compute at this time…

"We're almost there”.

‘Almost there’, turned out to be another twenty (thousand) minutes worth of place-listing and coordination I immediately forgot except for that one random greenhouse.

"So we clear?"

"Yup”, Liberty confirmed.

“…You didn't hear a word I said, did you?" 

"Nope”.

“…At least you're honest”.

"And....the Ember Vale?”

I brought it up again…

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it”.

Uh-not helpful…

“ Now for the rest of the night, stay away from that advisor. Try to find some sort of excuse to stay close by after your representatives leave”.

Shouldn’t have any trouble, I hope…

-Yeah, I probably wouldn’t have any trouble.

"I've heard there's supposed to be a storm”, Ro mentioned, “Maybe we could be some of the last to leave, and then hide when it's time to go”.

"Good luck with that”.

Act two for the endless planning.

*

I didn’t pay attention.

For the second time tonight.

_The Ember Vale..._

Who _wasn't _afraid?

...

*

After that, only a matter of waiting.

I drew on my hand with a black sharpie until I ran out of space, then moved on to the other one.

Then I took a nap on the floor.

Then I got shaken awake-

“C’mon sleepy, we have rooms for that”.

*

It rained in sheets.

_It’s lovely._

I curled up in the window seat with a borrowed blanket, and listened for a while.

_Wonder just how far we’ll get when the sun comes up._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually did fall asleep on the floor once...

**Author's Note:**

> New universe. Let's go exploring!


End file.
